


Bombshell

by costumejail



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: California (Comics)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Concussions, Established Relationship, M/M, Minor Injuries, Multi, Nonbinary Jet Star (Danger Days), Nonbinary Party Poison (Danger Days), Other: See Story Notes, Prompt Fill, Trans Character, Trans Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-13 23:01:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29161584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/costumejail/pseuds/costumejail
Summary: Kobra wipes out at the CrashTrack and gets knocked off his feet in a completely unexpected way.
Relationships: Agent Cherri Cola & Fun Ghoul & Jet Star & Kobra Kid & Party Poison (Danger Days), Agent Cherri Cola/Fun Ghoul/Kobra Kid (Danger Days)
Comments: 94
Kudos: 33





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was an anonymous request that I was happy to explore. I hope you like it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Emeto warning for this chapter, just until the first break

_At least the toilet’s clean,_ Kobra mused, wiping his mouth and flushing away the contents of his stomach. He folded his arms over the seat and rested his forehead on them, waiting for the next wave of nausea to overtake him.

Soon enough, Kobra hunched forward, gagging harshly before spitting acid into the bowl. The sound echoed around the porcelain, masking the creak of the bathroom door. He jumped when a hand landed on his back, but it was just Ghoul.

“Hey,” whispered Ghoul. “Y’okay?”

Kobra took the offered cup of water, swishing it around his mouth and spitting into the toilet before taking a few shallow sips. 

“How expired was that chilli?”

“A year or two?” Ghoul frowned. “Y’think that’s it?”

“Could— Fuck.”

Kobra hunched forward quickly, head spinning, but neither the water he’d drank nor the last remnants of his dinner made an appearance. He flushed the toilet again and sat back against Ghoul’s chest. One of Ghoul’s hands crept up to Kobra’s hair, brushing it back from his sweat-damp forehead, the other one wrapped around to his hip, holding him close.

“Y’want me to call the track? Tell ‘em you can’t race?”

“No,” Kobra shook his head. “I’ll be fine. Besides, gotta win some food that wasn’t made before Girlie left the city.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am,” nodded Kobra. He turned to catch Ghoul’s lips in a kiss and caught sight of Cherri, Jet, and Party all gathered in the doorway.

“You sound like a dying coyote when you throw up,” Jet laughed.

An easy, if weak, grin slid over Kobra’s face as he flipped them off. “Kick rocks.”

* * *

At the CrashTrack, Kobra kissed Ghoul and Cherri, let Party press a hand to his forehead, (“I’m _fine_ , Pois.”) and poked the Girl in the stomach while Jet held her on their hip. Then he wheeled his bike to the starting line, buckled his helmet on, and waited for the starting gun.

When it went off like a clap of thunder, Kobra kicked off, rocketing down the track. Whatever modifications that Jet had cooked up since the last race turned him into lighting, taking the first corner before some of the other racers were even halfway to it. 

It was a three-lap race, but Kobra liked to build up a head start early, rather than cut it close at the last second. So he opened the throttle a bit more and hunched over the handlebars.

Wind roared in Kobra’s ears, the ground a red blur beneath him. He shifted his weight at the next corner, knowing that track maintenance never packed the sand down hard enough. 

Through the corner, Kobra righted himself, just in time to hear the crowd scream as — he snuck a look over his shoulder — two racers slid off the track and into the fence. Forcing his attention back in front of him, Kobra adjusted his grip on the handlebars.

He swerved to the left, around a scrap of twisted metal, then to the right. He looked up, gauging how far it was to the next corner and a blinding flash from the audience caught his eye. Kobra blinked hard, trying to get rid of the spots forming in his vision. Then his bike went to the left and Kobra went to the right.

He heard his helmet hit the ground before he felt it.

Harsh white ripped into his vision, all the breath knocked from his lungs and a ringing that he didn’t _think_ had anything to do with bikes rushing past filled his ears. The sand was soft beneath his fingertips. He closed his eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chap has some medical stuff, more descriptions of head injuries, addiction mentions, and another emeto warning for the last four paragraphs of the first section and the last line of the second one. Also discussions of pregnancy but thats the whole fic so I expect you knew that.

“... third this season… standard procedure…”

Under the surface, Kobra heard fragments of sentences, an outraged sound so familiar he could have made it himself. The ground (or was it a table?) he was on shifted.

“... Fucking idiot…”

Something warm tapped his face rapidly. Kobra tried to lift a hand, every tap rattling through his sinuses.

“Wake up, fuck you, wake up.”

Kobra succeeded in looping his fingers around the appendage assaulting his senses, but another took its place and he opened his eyes, annoyed.

“Fuck y’want.”

“This is your _third_ concussion this season?” Party’s voice was shrill, a nail to Kobra’s eardrums. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Were you going to _tell_ me?”

Closing his eyes again, Kobra thought really hard. “Yeahh,” he concluded, but he wasn’t sure if that was right. 

“Open your eyes,” snapped Party. “Medics said I gotta take you to th’ hospital.”

“Where’s m’ glasses?”

At odds with his tone, Party was gentle when he slid a pair of sunglasses over Kobra’s eyes. A bit of his headache dimmed with the lights, but not a lot as Party started his tirade up again.

“Fucking… Third concussion in a season. Y’know you can get seriously fucked up from those? Girlie’s fucking beside herself, thought you’d _died_ when you hit the ground. You couldn’t pick a normal hobby?” They swung Kobra up in their arms and started carrying him out of the medic’s tent. Kobra waved sadly at the blurry faces of the medics, who all waved back. “Thank fuck we came in two cars, I sent Ghoul and Cherri home with babygirl because they’re not much better’n her right now. Fuck, Kobes,” Party’s voice broke. “We were worried.”

“‘M sorry,” Kobra fought not to slur his words. “‘S not gonna happen’gain.”

“You’re fucking right it’s not. Jet,” Party lifted his voice. A car door opened. “Your bike’s toasted.”

“Fuck.”

The door slammed shut once Party got Kobra situated, head on their lap and curled up in the backseat. Jet was silent when they started the Trans Am, cutting the radio off before Kobra had the chance to groan at the sudden increase in volume. The Am’s engine was enough to set off another dull throb behind Kobra’s forehead. When it started moving he whiteknuckled Party’s knee and that was all the warning he could give before his stomach flipped over. 

For the nth time that day, Kobra threw up.

“Gross,” Jet intoned.

“Just fucking drive,” was Party’s reply.

* * *

The hospital was expecting them, a medic with a wheelchair coming out and helping Jet and Party lever Kobra out of the backseat and into it. The hospital, a repurposed… mall? on the edge of Zone Three was quiet. The medic wheeled Kobra into an empty room, asked a few questions about his medical history (Poison answering most of them while Kobra tried to remember the last time he’d taken any kind of pill), wrapped a compression band tight around Kobra’s knee, and stabbed a needle into the skin of his elbow.

“Fuck,” winced Kobra.

“Sorry, dear,” the medic smiled sympathetically. “Just taking enough for a test or two.”

They gave Party a bandage to press down on Kobra’s arm and vanished.

“‘M sorry,” repeated Kobra. “Didn’t wanna scare’ya.”

Shifting closer to Kobra’s chair, Jet kissed their fingertips and set them to Kobra’s temple. “Not your fault. Just happy you’re okay.”

Tightly, Party nodded.

A different medic came back, flashing a concerned sort of smile at the three ‘joys before sitting down and pulling out a notepad. She glanced down at it, then looked up.

“Well, Kobra,” she smiled more genuinely. “Sounds like you took a nasty tumble. Fuck up a jump or did the second turn take you out?”

“Is he okay?” Party cut off Kobra’s reply.

“Let’s see,” she wheeled closer, pulling out a tiny flashlight and flicking it on. “Wanna take those glasses off so I can check something out?”

Kobra swiped the glasses off his face before he contemplated what the medic was about to do. Light ripped through his vision and he swore, flashing his hands up to cover his eyes.

Silence settled over the room.

“Ah.” Paper rustled and the medic spoke quieter. “Guessing you know how to have a good time?”

Kobra knew what he was referring to. You could tell a lot about a person from their eyes. Purple irises and permanently-blown pupils, in Kobra’s case, pointed to more than a few brushes with one of the Zone’s favourite party drugs.

“Not anymore,” Kobra gritted. He felt Party’s hand tighten on his knee for a moment.

“When was the last time you—”

“It’s been a while.” The exact date would have evaded Kobra even if not for the fuzzy concussion-feeling that he could now feel settling in around his ears.

“So not since you got pregnant, then?”

You could hear a pin drop. Kobra was pretty sure Party wasn’t breathing, and on his other side, Jet was suddenly very interested in their thumbnail.

“Since I…?”

“Got pregnant?” The medic checked her notebook again. “Is this news to you?”

Kobra cleared his throat but lost his voice and ended up just nodding.

“You mind if we talk alone, for a sec?”

Party made a sharp sort of noise and tensed.

“‘M fine,” Kobra mumbled. “Go.”

In unison, Jet and Party got up. Then it was just Kobra and the medic. She took her glasses off, folded them into the collar of her shirt. She smiled gently, probably used to putting people at ease.

“How old are you, Kobra?”

“Twenty…” Years slipped by with no calendar in the Zones, and the fog clouding Kobra’s brain wasn’t helping, but he managed to stumble through the math and come up with, “Twenty-three.”

“And you were born in the…?”

“City.”

“Ah.”

“I don’t… What d’you mean I’m pregnant? I can’t… I thought I couldn’t—”

“Because of the Sugar?”

“I don’t bleed.”

“That’s common. But you’re still… Well, you’re still pregnant. Blood doesn’t lie.”

In the back of Kobra’s mind, he knew he should probably have a reaction to this. “Okay,” was all he could come up with. He felt a bit like he was trying to stand during an earthquake, except that the wheelchair he was sitting in was firmly locked in place.

“Have you ever thought about having a kid?”

Numbly, Kobra replied, “We’ve got a… the crew… she’s ours. But not— Party brought her home.”

“Well, pregnancy doesn’t mean you have to have a kid. It’s just an option for you, now.”

“Okay.”

For a long moment, neither of them said anything else. Kobra blinked, but his vision refused to focus and he couldn’t tell if the medic was going to say anything else.

Eventually, she did, though.

“We can talk more about this, or I can finish checking your head and you can get out of here. I’m sure your…?”

“Sibling,” Kobra asserted. “And my crewmate.”

“I’m sure they’re anxious to get their hands on you again.”

“Yeah. Let’s— I need t’ get out of here.”

“Alright.”

A handful of carefully-navigated tests later, the medic walked Kobra to the door and opened it. Party and Jet stood instantly.

“Crash Queen like him I gather you all know the protocol? Wake him up every few hours, no driving, no racing, if there’s a clap try and keep him out of it. Here’s my frequency if there’s anything else, but for now, Kobra just needs a bit of support and a lot of rest.”

“Thanks, Doc,” smiled Jet, taking the offered slip of paper.

Party ignored the medic, sliding an arm around Kobra’s waist and walking him down the hall.

“You okay?” They whispered.

“Fine,” Kobra replied flatly.

“Did you know?”

“No.”

They were at the Trans Am. Jet drove again, Kobra curled in the passenger seat and Party sat behind him, reaching forward to hold his hand tightly.

The whole car smelled like vomit.

* * *

Someone was still awake when they pulled up to the diner. They didn’t rush out, so it wasn’t until they got closer that Kobra recognized that it was Cherri. He waited at the door for Jet and Kobra to make it inside. They passed him off to Cherri, flashed a worried look at Poison, and dragged them to the spare bedroom.

“Ghoul’s sleeping with the Girl,” Cherri murmured to Kobra once he’d bundled him back to the broadcast room and into their armchair. “Else he’d be up, too.”

“S’okay.” Kobra closed his eyes, pressed his forehead to Cherri’s shoulder. “Nothin’ much t’see.”

“You okay? Y’seem… Off.”

Kobra hummed, which hurt. He kept his eyes closed as Cherri started combing through his hair, sorting out knots that must have formed during the race.

Cherri took his silence as an answer of its own and didn’t push anything.

“Love you,” mumbled Kobra.

Featherlight, Cherri pressed his lips to Kobra’s shoulder. “Love you, too.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very brief emeto ment in the first paragraph. And some like, very nonexplicit camera-pans-away implied sex.

Kobra used the concussion as an explanation for seeming off for nearly a full moon. It was easy enough to pass off, between throwing up at the mere smell of PowerPup and being forced to bunker down in the Am during firefights, neither Ghoul nor Cherri was surprised that he was upset. He’d called the medic, who assured him that he didn’t need to make any decisions about his surprise yet. 

“Probably shouldn’t, with a concussion like that one, anyway,” she’d laughed. “Take your time, you’re still early enough. It’s all a big decision.”

“Thanks,” Kobra had said.

By the new moon, though, Ghoul and Cherri were starting to get suspicious. Kobra wouldn’t say they cornered him, but they did wait for him to climb up to the roof for a sunset cigarette before they climbed up too, cuddling into him on either side.

Ghoul spoke first, “How’s your head?”

Kobra took a deep drag, feeling the burn in his lungs. He probably should have asked the medic about smoking while he was… probably should have asked the medic about smoking. He stubbed the stick out.

“Kobes,” that was Cherri. “We’re worried.”

“Yeah,” replied Kobra.

“You’re… It feels like you aren’t all here.”

“I’m—” Kobra took a breath. He took another. He held his hands up and faced Ghoul. “Medic gave me weird news,” he signed.

Ghoul translated for Cherri, then added, “You aren’t dying, are you?”

“Ghoul,” hissed Cherri. He reached around to smack Ghoul’s shoulder. “You aren’t, though, right?”

“No.”

“Thank th’ fuckin’ Witch,” Ghoul breathed. “What’s the news?”

Kobra twisted his hands into shapes that weren’t words, trying to figure out what to say.

“Kobes, it’s okay,” Cherri murmured. He rubbed his chin over Kobra’s shoulder. “Take your time.”

“Do Jet and Pois know?”

Kobra nodded.

For a moment, Ghoul’s eyebrows knit together. “You’ll tell us when you’re ready?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” Ghoul took Kobra’s hands and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “That’s good enough f’r me.”

Cherri hummed assent. He scooped Kobra into his lap and Ghoul moved closer. They curled up, the three of them, watching the last rays of light fade behind the mountains.

It was a warm night, and relaxed against Cherri’s chest, a gentle hand running up and down his spine, Kobra could pretend for a moment that things were normal. It was so, so easy to tip his head up, lips finding Cherri’s collarbone. 

“Hey,” murmured Cherri. “Not while you’re off-kilter like this.”

Ghoul perked up, moving closer again. He tucked himself behind Kobra and Cherri, pressing his cheek to Kobra’s hair. 

“Please,” Kobra whispered. “I missed you.”

Sharing a look, Ghoul and Cherri had a whole conversation in an instant. Cherri sighed as Ghoul nodded and then lips were at Kobra’s forehead, the side of his neck. The next time Cherri’s hand traced up Kobra’s back it was under his shirt. 

Gravel crunched when Kobra eased himself down onto it. Cherri settled on one side of him and Ghoul on the other. 

The night air grew cold, but between the three of them, there was enough heat to burn it away. 

Kobra didn’t want to go in when they were finished, so Cherri offered to go and get a blanket and returned with their jackets as well. They fell into silence once more, cocooned together under the blanket.

Tucked between his boyfriends, Kobra let himself think about it for the first time. He thought about having someone around, smaller than the Girl had been when Poison brought her home. He thought about all the dangers in the desert, millions of ways to get hurt, or killed. He thought about waiting nine months to meet someone, his baby, and losing them before they’d learned to walk. Babies are soft, small, they can’t defend themselves. Kobra wouldn’t be able to defend himself, he realized. For nine moons — maybe less, now — he’d have to be extra careful. No more racing, no claps, what if he got hurt and the kid did, too?

Cherri noticed first when Kobra started shivering. He chafed his hands up and down Kobra’s arms.

“Y’cold, love?”

Kobra shook his head, heart pounding. He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t have a kid. He could mess it up so easily, lose them or lose someone trying to protect them. How could he even protect them? He remembered all the sleepless nights and long days when the Girl was a baby. When would he sleep? Get food? Who would watch them if he got in a clap? Kids were rare in the desert for a reason. He closed his eyes hard and opened them to Ghoul, inches away from his face with a soft look in his eyes and worry splashed across the rest of his features.

“Kobes? Y’gotta breathe for me, okay? S’okay, we’re right here.”

Kobra shuddered and scrambled away from his boyfriends. Neither of them moved, then Cherri opened his mouth.

Softly, he started murmuring, describing the desert around them. The glow of the neon sign on the edge of the roof and the way the gravel crunched under his fingertips. 

Ghoul took over when Cherri ran out of things he could see in the dim light.

“‘S a new moon, so the stars are real bright, _Hermoso_ , you can look up and see them if you want.” Softly, Ghoul chuckled. “You c’n probably see ‘em better than I can. Same with that cactus, just out t’ the left. The one that’s all pitted ‘n black?”

Kobra was so tense that moving his neck took as much effort as breaking one, but he did his best to look where Ghoul pointed.

“Jet was teachin’ Girlie how to shoot yesterday, she’s a real good shot.”

He knew Ghoul didn’t mean it, but Kobra couldn’t stop himself from envisioning a future where he had to teach his kid to shoot. To protect themself. To kill.

“Stop talking,” rasped Kobra. He bent down, pulling his knees up to his chest and wrapping his jacket around them and tugging. The leather creaked, but it held.

Ghoul fell quiet, he gripped Cherri’s hand in the corner of Kobra’s vision.

Cherri didn’t make a sound.

“I’m pregnant.”

The words dragged themselves from Kobra’s lips before he buried his face in his knees.

It ripped Kobra open. The silence. He was surprised that he didn’t feel blood, his guts spilling out. Sneaking a glance up, Cherri’s face was completely blank, while Ghoul’s screamed shock.

“Holy shit,” Ghoul said.

Cherri was a little more eloquent when he finally spoke, “You’ve known since the race?”

Kobra nodded.

“And you didn’t tell us?”

A stitch popped when Kobra pulled his jacket tighter around himself.

“‘M sorry.”

“No, baby,” Cherri shifted, but didn’t come any closer. “Nothing to be sorry for. I’m sorry you had to deal with that by yourself.”

“Are we… Are we gonna be dads?” Barely-contained excitement danced in Ghoul’s voice.

Kobra didn’t answer.

“ _Hermoso?_ ” Now there was concern, loud and clear. “What’s goin’ on up there?”

“I don’t— I don’t know. It’s— Fuck, it’s— Witch, ‘m sorry. I— I’m sorry. I don’t—”

“Hey, shh. Kobes, you’re okay. Y’gotta breathe, love.” Somehow, Cherri’s voice was even. He could have been reading a poem to the Girl. “No questions, no answers. Just take your time, come back to us.”

 _Come back to them._

Kobra took a deep breath. He held it until it hurt, then blew out slowly. He itched for a cigarette. He took another breath.

“Okay,” whispered Kobra.

“Can I touch you?” Asked Ghoul.

After a second, Kobra worked a hand out from his self-contained tangle of limbs. Ghoul tucked his pinky finger through Kobra’s and squeezed once.

“We never planned for this one, huh?”

“No,” Kobra barely nodded.

The next long silence was broken by Cherri. He’d been resting his chin on Ghoul’s shoulder, then lifted it to clear his throat softly.

“Let’s go in. I think… We need to talk, but not tonight.”

“Copy that,” agreed Ghoul. “Kobes? Y’okay to come down by yourself?”

Flashing a thumbs up, Kobra got to his feet. He didn’t stumble while he walked to the ladder, but Cherri went down first and Kobra could feel careful eyes on him the entire time he descended. They all trooped into the diner. Ghoul vanished to one of the bedrooms and Kobra followed Cherri to the broadcast room. He watched a spider build a web in the corner of the ceiling while Cherri talked into the mic until Kobra couldn’t keep in a series of jaw-cracking yawns. Cherri eased a headphone off and spun around in his chair.

“Go to bed, love, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Nodding, Kobra signed, “Love you,” and shambled to the closest bedroom. There was enough space between Jet and Ghoul for him to slide onto the mattress and worm his way under Ghoul’s arm. He fell asleep to Jet’s even breath and his boyfriend’s heartbeat in his ear.


	4. Chapter 4

The first thing Kobra noticed when he woke up was that he didn’t feel sick. Muted voices murmured over his head, Jet and Ghoul whispering to each other.

“‘S _that_ why you offered to call the convoy for hand—?”

“I honestly thought—”

“‘M up,” Kobra mumbled. He patted around the pillows until his hand landed on a pair of sunglasses, then he slid them on and opened his eyes. “Talkin’ shit about me?”

From their silence, Kobra knew they had been.

“I thought you’d told them already,” Jet finished.

“Oh.” Kobra rolled over and pressed his face into Ghoul’s chest.

A hand traced up the back of Kobra’s head, then Ghoul started murmuring.

“Cherri’s in with the girl. Wanna wait for him to get up to talk?”

“Mhm.”

“Alright,” Ghoul pressed a kiss to Kobra’s hair. “Wanna get somethin’ t’ eat?”

Kobra could smell… something. Not PowerPup, and combined with his relatively low nausea this morning, he was actually hungry for once. He nodded, rolled back and into Jet’s side, then sat up. They smiled up at him, reached up to tousle his hair.

“When yinz say ‘talk’, is that a whole-crew talk, or just the three of you?”

“Why would we all…?”

“Kid,” Jet laughed, but their eyes were sad. “Did you think we’d let you do whatever you do _alone?”_

Kobra flushed, he ducked his head. “No,” he lied.

“Probably just the three of us, at first, Jet,” Ghoul supplied. He sat up, too, and wrapped an arm around Kobra’s shoulder. “Not _your_ genes that’re gonna be runnin’ around here. Anyway, breakfast.”

Party was already in the kitchen, something sizzling on the stove.

“Pony dropped off eggs,” he pointed. “Lifted ‘em outta the city and they’ll go bad too fast if they don’t get in a fridge.”

They loaded up a few plates and delivered them to their crewmates. Ghoul hopped up to eat sitting on the counters, while Jet and Kobra sat on the floor. Poison ate standing up. 

“Fun fair starts t’morrow,” Party spoke around a mouthful of eggs. “Girlie wants t’ camp out so she can get in right when it opens.”

“Oh, fuck yeah,” cheered Ghoul.

“Gonna head out tonight, takin’ the Am.”

Jet asked, “Got an extra spot?” and Party nodded.

“We’ll, uh, meet you there, I guess,” Kobra spoke up. “Gotta talk to Cherri when he gets up.”

“Did you te—”

“Yeah,” Kobra confirmed.

A loud bang erupted as Party slammed a hand into the cupboards. “Thank _fuck_. It’s painful watchin’ you keep secrets from them. Shiny! Okay.”

The outburst had startled Kobra, but it summoned the Girl, and they all cut the conversation off by wordless agreement when she ran into the kitchen and threw herself at Kobra and Jet.

“Fun fair, fun fair, fun fair!” She chanted, clapping her hands together.

“You excited, baby?”

For all his nerves about a kid of his own, Kobra had forgotten how contagious the Girl’s smiles were.

“Yeah! ‘M gonna go on the Ferris wheel an’ the merry-go-round an’ get _radiation tested_ an’ Party said I could try an’ win prizes this time!”

“That’s great, kiddo!” Ghoul slid off the counter and swung the Girl up into his arms. “You packed yet?”

“Uh-huh!”

She giggled when Ghoul bent to whisper in her ear, then jumped out of his arms and scampered from the kitchen.

“Told her to rob the swear jar,” he shrugged. 

“Oh, shit, are we still doing that?” Jet grinned.

“Of fuckin’ course we are.”

Neither of them left to put any money in the swear jar.

Kobra was still staring at the door, swinging back and forth in the Girl’s wake. Ghoul was so good with her. He wondered if—

“Kobes?” Party had a hand extended to him and his eyebrows knit together. “We’re probably gonna head out once Girlie eats, get a good spot, maybe help them finish setting up.”

Kobra took their offered hand and pulled himself up. He stumbled into Party and they steadied him, one hand on his shoulder and one on his stomach.

“You gonna be good here?”

“Not gonna be alone,” Kobra brushed him off. “Don’t be weird.”

With a sheepish smile, Party pulled him into a hug, then they rocked up on their tiptoes to catch Kobra in a headlock and mess his hair up.

“Don’t have too much fun.”

“Think we already did,” Ghoul grinned wickedly.

“Oh, fuckin’ _nasty_.” 

Fake-retching, Party shoved Kobra away. Ghoul caught Kobra, tucked a hand into his back pocket and pushed up into a loud kiss.

“Ugh, yeah,” Jet stood. “I’m out.” 

Party followed them to the door.

Grateful for the break in tension, Kobra grabbed Ghoul’s hand and pulled him out to the dining room. They saw Party, Jet, and the Girl off from the doorstep, waving until the Trans Am disappeared over the horizon.

Ghoul leaned into Kobra’s side, one hand warm on his hip. Breakfast had been a long affair, apparently, or they’d woken up late. Regardless, the sun was way too high in the sky for them to be outside without good reason, Cherri was asleep and Kobra, stomach full and settled for the first time in a moon and a half, couldn’t stifle a yawn.

“See you at sunset?”

Pretending to think, Kobra pulled Ghoul back inside, then pushed Ghoul against the closed door and bent to kiss him. Ghoul made a surprised sound, his hands fluttering for a second before he looped his arms around Kobra’s neck and pulled him closer.

“I love you,” Kobra murmured when he got a chance to breathe.

“Love you too,” returned Ghoul. He pulled Kobra into another kiss. “So much.”

The next time Kobra pulled back, gasping, he rested his forehead against Ghoul’s and played with the ends of his braids.

“If I go nap—?”

“I got shit to do,” nodded Ghoul. “See you at sunset.”

This time, when Kobra made his way into their bedroom, Cherri was curled on the mattress. He barely stirred when the door opened but was back asleep before Kobra reached the bed. Sliding into the blankets, Kobra draped an arm around Cherri’s waist, tangled his ankle between Cherri’s, and buried his nose in his hair.

“Love you,” whispered Kobra.

Without even opening his eyes, maybe without even waking up, Cherri slurred out a “You too.”

The room was warm and still. Kobra fell asleep before he closed his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

The light in the room was blue when Kobra opened his eyes. Cherri was awake, barely, halfheartedly tracing the line of Kobra’s hip with his fingertips.

“Morning,” murmured Cherri when Kobra shifted.

“Evening,” he returned.

They shared a smile. Then the door crashed open and Ghoul jumped onto the bed.

“Fuckin’ finally! Y’missed sunset and it’s boring as _fuck_ out here.”

“Thought you h— had shit to do,” Kobra yawned.

“Yeah, then I finished it. C’mon, get up” Ghoul shook Cherri’s shoulder. “I’ll cook.”

“I’ll do it. You hate cooking,” countered Cherri. He shouldered out of Kobra’s embrace and sat up. “We could have a fire?”

Kobra nodded, something jittering in his chest. He let Ghoul drag him out of the diner and to the garage, where they grabbed armfuls of scrap wood and dropped them just in front of the diner’s front door.

“Party called,” Ghoul informed Kobra while they built the fire. “Said they got all set up, Gertie had a bunch’a kids out so Girlie got to play while they helped with the concert stage. ‘Parently Mads’s gonna be playin’ tomorrow.”

Holding his lighter to the corner of an old magazine, Kobra didn’t reply.

“So I thought we’d head out ‘round midday? Y’think Cherri’ll come?”

Kobra shrugged. He lit the fire and bent to blow at the kindling, making sure it caught.

“Y’know,” Ghoul inched closer to Kobra when he sat back from the blaze. “‘F you’re nervous you can tell me.”

But Kobra couldn’t, not in words. He nodded again, throat tight, and lay down with his head in Ghoul’s lap.

“Oh, _Hermoso,”_ Ghoul ran his fingers through Kobra’s hair. “You don’t make loving you easy.”

Kobra closed his eyes tightly and nodded.

“It’s a good thing I’m stubborn.”

Ghoul was smiling softly when Kobra looked up at him.

“Here’s what’s gonna happen, okay? We’re gonna snuggle by this nice fire y’made. Then we’re gonna eat because you haven’t since breakfast an’ then we’re gonna talk, all three of us. But you get final say, alright?”

Twice, Kobra tapped Ghoul’s knee, then he sat up properly and wiggled onto Ghoul’s lap. Ghoul held him in the glow of the fire until Cherri came out, juggling two open cans of PowerPup, one of chilli, and one of peaches. He handed the food out and Kobra dragged himself out of Ghoul’s lap to eat.

Idly, Ghoul and Cherri chatted through dinner, making plans for the fun fair and the next time they’d need to make a supply run and how long they thought it’d be until the Girl started demanding to learn to drive.

The meal ended with the shared can of peaches, juice running down hands and chins and sticky-sweet kisses between bites. They threw the cans into the fire and watched them turn red-hot.

Kobra cleared his throat.

“Okay,” he said. “Okay.”

Cherri and Ghoul quieted down, intently watching Kobra as he found his words.

“Fuck, I’m scared.”

Ghoul chuckled a bit.

“I didn’t think this could happen ‘n I don’t know what to do. I don’t— I—” Kobra took a breath.

“Let’s start at the beginning, yeah?” That easy, reading-a-poem-to-the-Girl tone was back in Cherri’s voice. “Do we want a kid?”

“I do,” Ghoul answered. Something soft laced through his tone. “I mean, we’ve got the Girl but… I think another one would be fun.”

“You’re such a sucker,” teased Cherri. Then he turned serious. “I think— I’d be happy raisin’ another one. And they’d be… Ours. Not just the crew’s.”

“Kobes?”

His boyfriends’ eyes back on him, Kobra tried not to squirm.

“I— I think— Witch. I do want one. But I— I don’t know.”

“What’s trippin’ you up, babe?”

“How long do you have?”

Cherri knocked his head into Kobra’s lightly, laughing under his breath. “Let me try,” he asked. 

Kobra nodded.

“You think you have to do this by yourself, you’re thinkin’ that the Zones are super dangerous, and you think you’re bad with babies.”

“W— I— That’s—” Kobra stopped stuttering to frown.

“Did I miss something?”

Now Ghoul started up, “ _Hermoso_ , apart from th’ fact that Cher ‘n I aren’t gonna ditch you, you’ve got Pois and Jet to help out too. And you’re lookin’ at a desertborn, you think I haven’t picked up on how t’ stay alive out here? Shit, Cherri’s been out most of his life, so’s Jet, you and Pois aren’t far behind. We know how to live out here.”

“And,” Cherri cut in, “The Girl loved you when she was little, still does. You don’t have to know everything about kids to know how to keep them healthy and happy.”

“But— What about, yknow, waiting for it to get here?”

A sudden silence told Kobra that Ghoul and Cherri hadn’t thought about that, yet.

“It was hard enough not getting in a clap for a moon while I couldn’t see straight, what about when I’m further along? Where are we gonna find food for me and our kid? I don’t know if I’m gonna be useless or if there’s gonna be problems or— I don’t know.”

“Hey, you won’t be useless, ever.” Cherri’s voice was soft, but he didn’t leave room for disagreement. He waited for Kobra’s okay before pressing a kiss to his cheek. “But… I don’t know what to tell you, love. If you’re worried about it now, we could always try again later? Or not. Do we have to decide tonight?”

“Probably soon,” mumbled Kobra. “Th’ medics was last moon and we don’t know when I… Could’ve been a while.”

“Well, you still look th’ same. So probably not that long ago.” Ghoul got his own nod before nosing along Kobra’s jaw and kissing just below his ear. “We’ve got time. Whatever you wanna do’s just shiny.”

Kobra closed his eyes and sighed. “You’re right.”

“I am, sometimes,” laughed Ghoul. “‘S annoying, isn’t it?”

Kobra turned and kissed him properly, smiling just a bit as he pulled back.

“Call your medic tomorrow,” suggested Cherri. “See what she’s got t’ say and... we can go from there?”

“Okay.” Kobra whispered. “Hey, I love you.”

In unison, Cherri and Ghoul replied, “Love you, too.”

Something clicked into place in Kobra’s chest. He sighed.

“‘M so fuckin’ lucky t’have you.”

“So’re we,” Ghoul answered. “So are we.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
